2014 BEAT Festival Kicks Off Today in Brooklyn

Today, September 11, through the 20th, 2014, the third annual Brooklyn Emerging Artists in Theater (BEAT) Festival will take place, showcasing Brooklyn's most current crop of local theater, dance, and voice talent, performing in intriguing locations borough-wide.

Brooklyn's worldwide appeal -- created in part by the artists who live and work here -- make this festival a true world-class event. The festival celebrates a sense of place and a vibe that is unique to Brooklyn.

"BEAT brings influential and electrifying performance artists to diverse communities across the borough," said Stephen Shelley, Artistic Director and Executive Producer. "The adventurous performances focus on an interplay between audience members, artists, and the spaces themselves."

Highlights of this year's festival will include opening night, hosted at the Brooklyn Museum, two special evenings of site-specific performance at the Green-Wood Cemetery and more than fifteen engaging, eclectic and adventurous performances in Crown Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, East New York and Sunset Park. This year's roster of artists and performances will include renowned poet Aja Monet, an opera by entitled "Stop & Frisk" and Improv Everywhere's The Mp3 Experiment.

There are several free performances; ticketed events are priced up to $35, and a general festival pass is available for $60. For tickets and more information about the festival, visit www.beatbrooklyn.com.

After its inaugural year in 2012, the BEAT Festival tripled its crowd last year, with everything from multiple artist MashUps at the Brooklyn Museum and MetroTech Commons to MCs dueling it out onstage at Park Slope synagogue to a performance centered around a 70's era Coleman Camper on offer.

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

BEAT Opening Night

September 11th, 7pm | Free*

The Brooklyn Museum

200 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11238

*Note: The Brooklyn Museum's "suggested donation" entrance policy still applies.

For one night only, the artists in this year's BEAT Festival will transform The Brooklyn Museum into "The Brooklyn Museum of the Performing Arts." Discover adventurous performances in unpredictable corners and halls of Brooklyn's largest cultural institution. Come one, come all - this is a true celebration of Brooklyn performing arts. Special Highlight: Be a part of creating dance at The Brooklyn Museum! In the interactive dance creation project #TweetDance, professional dancers of all styles will turn tweets and short prompts from audience members near and far into minute-long improvised dance performances on the spot. With performances by Aja Monet; Bed-Stuy Veterans: Featuring Ghost, Poba, and Rain; Elisabet Torras Aguilera; #TweetDance by Kyla Ernst-Alper & Maxx Passion; Fixed Agency; LEIMAY; Mashuq Deen; Shirel Jones; Sophia Schrank; Two Sides Sounding

Crossing Over: A Performance Adventure In Green-Wood Cemetery

September 12 & 13 | 7:30pm, 7:50pm, 8:10pm, 8:30pm | $35

Green-Wood Cemetery

500 25th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Note: Each tour lasts approximately 90 minutes and may be hilly and strenuous; wear comfortable shoes

Crossing Over is a nighttime tour of Green-Wood Cemetery featuring four site-specific dance performances, each uniquely created by a distinctive Brooklyn-based choreographer to celebrate the now, with history and place as the stunning backdrop. These dramatic performances will coincide with a journey through Green-Wood led by Atlas Obscura, tour-guide to the world's most wondrous places. The expedition and performances will highlight tombs from New York's remarkable performing arts history, and conclude within the cemetery's hallowed catacombs. With Tours by Atlas Obscura, and site-specific performances created by Elisabet Torras Aguilera, LEIMAY: Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya, Shirel Jones, and Sophia Schrank

The Bed-Stuy Veterans: Featuring Ghost, Poba, and Rain

September 12 | 12pm | Free

With Two Sides Sounding

MetroTech Commons

Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 15 | 4pm | Free

With Dancewave

The Daily News Plaza, Barclays Center

620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

September 17 | 12pm | Free

4 MetroTech Center Lobby

Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 18 | 7:30pm | Free

Mi Tierra Community Park

2501 Pitkin Ave, Brooklyn NY 11208

The Bed Stuy Veterans are the pioneers of NYC Bruk-Up, the foundation of Brooklyn street dance. Bruk-Up originated in the 1990s in Jamaica, where Bruk means Break or Broke, by a man of the same name: BrukUp. BSV has nurtured Bruk-Up into an art form that now utilizes body pops, locks, waves, glides, and shakes to visually represent the music itself. Being in sync with the overall song is of high importance. Each of the Vets has a unique style based on their alter-egos. For the last 20 years they have watched over the style and kept it alive.

Two Sides Sounding

September 12 | 12noon | Free

With Bed-Stuy Veterans

MetroTech Commons

Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

September 13 | 12noon | Free

Performing Sidney Marquez Boquiren's "Stop and Frisk," plus NYC songs by Brooklyn composers Rachel Peters and Gabriel Kahane

East New York Farmer's Market

Schenck Avenue between New Lots & Livonia Avenues

September 16 | 7:30pm | $20

Two Sides Sounding: The Unsung City

Brooklyn Historical Society

128 Pierrepont St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

New music ensemble Two Sides Sounding sings the stories of everyday heroes fighting the system in NYC. The Brooklyn Historical Society event will feature the premiere of Bruce Bailey, an "urban cantata" on the life and times of the late tenants' rights activist; the opera scene Stop & Frisk, a look at two childhood friends in conflict over a police incident; and the world premiere of Ellen Mandel's NYC Haiku, plus songs by composers Daron Hagen, Gabriel Kahane, Ray Lustig, Gilda Lyons, Rachel Peters and William Bolcom. With performances by Eleanor Taylor (soprano), Brandon Snook (tenor), Daniel Neer (baritone), Jorell Williams (baritone), Mila Henry (piano), and Ted Gorodetzky (director and multimedia composition).

Dancewave, Company I & II

With Bed-Stuy Veterans

September 15th, 4pm | Free

The Daily News Plaza, Barclays Center

620 Atlantic Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217

With a student population that reflects the full range of NYC's economic and cultural fabric, Dancewave offers young people from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to learn, create, and perform dance together. Founded on the belief that performance is the fastest route to achievement, students are given the unique opportunity to study and perform cutting edge modern dance repertoire. Since its inception in 1995 by Artistic/Executive Director Diane Jacobowitz, Dancewave creates programs that are challenging and artistically substantial, and that address young people's needs for individual achievement and group identity.

Aja Monet

September 15 | 7:30pm | Free

Front Porch Stories

United Community Centers

613 New Lots Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11207

September 19 | 12pm | Free

Backyard Songs

MetroTech Commons

Metrotech Center, Brooklyn, NY 11201

"The true definition of an artist" is how Harry Belafonte describes Aja Monet, a poet, performer, and educator from East New York, Brooklyn. An internationally established poet, Monet is recognized for a spellbinding voice, an indomitable stage presence, and powerful imagery that captivates audiences across the U.S and around the globe. For the BEAT Festival, she returns to her roots in East New York to share work that addresses issues of family, community, gentrification, and home.

Mashuq Deen

September 17 | 7:30pm | $20

Draw the Circle

Written and performed by Mashuq Deen, directed by Chay Yew

Presented in association with Kumble Theater at LIU Brooklyn

Flatbush Avenue btwn DeKalb Avenue & Willoughby Street

One University Plaza, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Award-winning theater artist Mashuq Deen is the child of Indian immigrants, an activist in the Asian LGBT community, an avid bread baker, and a (stuffed) monster maker. His show, Draw the Circle, is the hilarious and moving story of how a conservative Muslim family deals with a child who defies their most basic expectations of what it means to have a daughter - and one woman's commitment to unconditional love. Told entirely from the point of view of family and friends, yet performed by Deen himself, the show compassionately brings to life the often-ignored struggle of a transgender individual's family.

Fixed Agency

September 18 & 19 | 5pm & 7pm | $30/$20

Private(i) An Immersive Mixed-Reality Adventure

Brooklyn Navy Yard, BLDG 92

63 Flushing Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205

Founded by multidisciplinary artists Isaac Eddy, Peter Musante, Rachael Richman, and Eva von Schweinitz, Fixed Agency works at the intersection of participatory art, interactive technologies, and mixed-reality experiences. Private(i) - An Immersive Mixed-Reality Adventure, takes place in 2020, in a society of hyper-surveillance. Privacy is illegal. Secrets are a thing of the past. An underground band of "Aloners" have hacked their way off the grid, inviting outsiders into a hidden world. Participants are matched with a Private(i) - an undercover guide - and embark on a covert walking tour deep within the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Through a series of unexpected encounters, they reconnect with a time when privacy still existed. Private(i) is an outdoor experience that lasts 1 hour and requires comfortable footwear.

Improv Everywhere

September 20 | 2pm & 6pm | Free

The Mp3 Experiment

Location to be revealed the day before on ImprovEverywhere.com

Founded by Charlie Todd, the author of Causing a Scene (Harper Collins), Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. The group has executed over 100 missions involving thousands of undercover agents, including the legendary Grand Central Freeze and the infamous No Pants Subway Ride, and its videos have received over 375 million views online. For the Mp3 Experiment, the group will post an original mp3 file that people add to their mobile devices. Participants then synchronize watches, convene at a public place, and blend in. At a predetermined time, they all press Play. Hilarity ensues as the agents carry out ridiculous, coordinated instructions delivered to their headphones via narrator "Steve," and everyone else tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

"The Brooklyn Beat Makes Me"

September 14 | Free

Duration: All day in various locations in Brooklyn

Award-winning designer/artist Chanel Kennebrew will set up a customized #TheBKBeatMakesMe booth at iconic Brooklyn locations to ask passers-by how they respond to the Brooklyn Beat. The digital content she captures in response will memorialize the festival and the moment. Watch our social media for details, and be there!

BEAT Closing Night Party

September 20 | 7pm | $10

Irondale Center

85 S Oxford Street, Brooklyn, NY 11217

Join us for a lively gathering of friends, artists, and special guests (!) to celebrate the close of the Third Annual BEAT Festival. Not to be missed!

ARTIST BIOS:

TWEET DANCES and UNDER ONE DANCES

Kyla Ernst-Alper is a dancer, aerialist, and transmedia producer. Raised in Vermont, at the age of 12 she began studying at the Ballet Tech School in New York City, and at 16 she moved to NYC full-time to dance for Eliot Feld's Ballet Tech. Since then she has worked with numerous dance companies and choreographers. Kyla has a second-degree black belt in Shao Lin Kung Fu. She currently performs with a variety of choreographers, as well as with the band Huff This! which combines immersive dance theater with a traditional music concert experience. Her own choreography has appeared on numerous stages. Kyla has traveled the world performing on the ground and in the air. She also works as a producer and editor of digital content. Kyla blends her multimedia skills with performance to create unique cross-platform works. In the interactive dance creation project #TweetDance, professional dancers of all styles turn tweets and short prompts from audience members near and far into minute-long improvised dance performances on the spot.

GREEN-WOOD CEMETERY ARTISTS

Sophia Schrank is a writer, director, choreographer and photographer with one foot in in New York and the other San Francisco. In addition to creating new theatrical work with her company or working freelance as a director, she is currently pursuing her teaching credentials in Vinyasa Yoga. Sophia graduated with a B.F.A. in drama from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2012. Most recently, her short film "Shipwreck...a daydream" made its San Francisco premier as part of ODC's Pilot series. She has directed internationally as an artist-in-resident in Smolyan Bulgaria as part of the Rhodopi International Theater Laboratory.

Elisabet Torras Aguilera was born and raised in Barcelona where she studied Flamenco and Danza Española, and then continued her studies in Madrid. She has toured Spain and China, and is now a performer at Alegrias la Nacional and other NYC stages. For Crossing Over, she will perform a Martinete, one of the least happy palo's (styles) in Flamenco. Martinete originated among Gypsy smiths who played a rhythm only with a hammer and anvil. Elisbet will be accompanied by singer Ismael de la Rosa and percussionist Jose Moreno.

Born in Trinidad and raised in Brooklyn, Shirel Jones has taught ballet, contemporary jazz, modern dance, and creative movement at schools across the U.S. and overseas. Her Crossing Overperformance, "Phoenix: Episode 1," reflects the cycle of who we were, are, and will be. Like the Phoenix we are cyclically reborn, entering each moment with only the knowledge of times before and predictions for the next.

Sophia Schrank is a writer, director, choreographer and photographer. In addition to creating new theatrical work, she is pursuing her teaching credentials in Vinyasa Yoga. In her Crossing Over show, "Somnambulists' Tango," a jester looks for a new act, a wayfaring traveller falls in love with a ghost, and a manic phantom struggles with a memory that escaped her. Presented through eccentric choreography and set in Niblo's dream-awakening garden, "Somnambulists' Tango" tells of passionate longing amongst quiet souls.

TWO SIDES SOUNDING

Brooklyn new music ensemble Two Sides Sounding sings the stories of everyday heroes fighting the system in NYC. Featuring the premiere of Daniel Felsenfeld & Daniel Neer's "Bruce Bailey," an "urban cantata" on the life and times of the late 1980's tenants' rights activist, and the opera scene "Stop & Frisk" by Sidney Marquez Boquiren, a look at two childhood friends in conflict over a police incident. The multimedia performance includes previously unseen archival photographs of Bruce Bailey's activism. Performance is followed by a talkback with the creators of "Bruce Bailey," and a discussion of Bailey's legacy and the issue of affordable housing then and now.

AJA MONET

"The true definition of an artist" is how the iconic Harry Belafonte describes Aja Monet, a poet, performer, and educator from East NY, Brooklyn. She is the youngest individual to win the legendary Nuyorican Poet's Café Grand Slam title. An internationally established poet, she is recognized for combining her spellbound voice and powerful imagery on stage, captivating audiences across the U.S., France, the UK, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Bermuda, and Cuba.

MASHUQ DEEN

Mashuq Deen is an award-winning Brooklyn-based theater artist. The child of Indian immigrants, he grew up in the northeast, in the tiny town of Bolton, Connecticut. He studied theater and writing in college and moved to NYC in 2003 to get his MFA. "Draw the Circle" is the hilarious and moving story of how a conservative Muslim family deals with a child who defies their most basic expectations of what it means to have a daughter - and one woman's commitment to unconditional love. Told entirely from the point of view of family and friends, yet performed by Deen himself, this unique show compassionately brings to life the often ignored struggles of a transgender individual's family. Written & performed by Deen, directed by Chay Yew.

FIXED AGENCY (PRIVATE(I))

Fixed Agency is a collaborative arts group founded by New York-based multidisciplinary artists Isaac Eddy, Peter Musante, Rachael Richman and Eva von Schweinitz. Working at the intersection of participatory art, interactive technologies, and community, Fixed Agency develops immersive mixed-reality experiences that push the boundaries of performance and storytelling. The group is currently a 2014 Visiting Artist at BLDG 92 / The Brooklyn Navy Yard.

BED-STUY VETERANS

Performing their work, Bruklyn, the Bed Stuy Veterans - the pioneers of NYC Bruk-Up -will demonstrate the foundation of Brooklyn street dance. Bruk-Up originated in the 1990s in Jamaica, where Bruk means "Break" or "Broke," by a man of the same name: BrukUp. BSV has nurtured Bruk-Up into an art form, and each of the Vets has a unique style based on his alter-ego. For the last 20 years they have watched over the style and kept it alive.

IMPROV EVERYWHERE

Improv Everywhere's performance, Mp3 Experiment, is a participatory public event created by Improv Everywhere. Here's how it works: the group puts an original mp3 file online (usually around 45 minutes long) that people add to their mobile devices. Participants then synchronize their watches to an atomic clock on Improv Everywhere's website, head out to the same public location, and blend in with others. At the predetermined time, everyone presses Play. Hilarity ensues as participants carry out ridiculous, coordinated instructions delivered to their headphones via narrator "Steve," and everyone else tries to figure out what the hell is going on.

LEIMAY: Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya

Rooted in the body, LEIMAY: Ximena Garnica and Shige Moriya creates performances that juxtapose sound, video, light and movement to create multi-sensory experiences of wild physicality and meditative stillness. For Crossing Over, LEIMAY will celebrate life and death with a new work, "Thresholds," created specially for the mausoleums at Green-Wood. "Thresholds" will explore the smallest detectable sensation that must be exceeded for a phenomenon to occur.

CHANEL KENNEBREW

Chanel Kennebrew is a Brooklyn based mixed media artist. She uses bold typography, illustration, photography and discarded familiar imagery to recompose concepts. The use of bold color and playful compositions is significantly important reflecting the energy of the pieces. In 2004 she formed Junkprints, which is a creative experiment focusing on using art as a catalyst to explore value through the eco-design, manufacturing, distribution of clothing and accessories. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Good Morning America, and numerous publications. She has worked with establishments such as Time Inc. Reebok, Macy's, Birkenstock, and Nickelodeon.

DANCEWAVE

With a student population that reflects NYC's diverse economic and cultural fabric, Dancewave offers young people the opportunity to learn, create, and perform dance together. Founded on the belief that performance is the fastest route to achievement, students are given the opportunity to study and perform cutting edge modern dance repertoire. Since its inception in 1995 by Artistic/Executive Director Diane Jacobowitz, Dancewave creates challenging artistic programs that address young people's needs for individual achievement and group identity.